Large-scale testing of coupled shear wall structures with damping devices

When coupled shear wall (CSW) systems are built in a high seismic region, excessive shear forces are induced in the coupling beams. As a result of these shear forces, brittle failure of coupling beams and wall-coupling beam joints may occur or shear walls may yield first. The ductility demands on coupling beams can also be of critical concern. To solve these problems, new damping systems are proposed to improve the seismic performance of high-rise coupling shear wall structures. The proposed systems, which are CSW systems with a metallic damper or a friction damper, offer important advantages over the conventional reinforced concrete CSW systems: increasing energy dissipation capacity and reducing damage to the structures. This paper presents the results of large-cale cyclic tests of damped CSW systems. Test results show that the proposed systems exhibit a stable hysteretic response. In addition, the energy dissipation in these systems is concentrated in the energy dissipation devices, while the inelastic behavior of the beams and walls is prevented through appropriate capacity design.